Recovering Bride
by Odeletta
Summary: After being left alone right before her wedding, a Belgian woman struggles with her misery and tries to pick herself up after the fiasco. As she finally gets over her broken heart, he decides to whirl back into her life. SpaBel with hints of Spamano
1. Shock

_Clementine Vermeulen. _The Belgian stared at her own name printed neatly on the warm piece of paper until it grew old on her and she became bored once more. She couldn't help but smile to herself brightly and clutched her hands to her chest over her heart, clearly quite happy. In only a few days, that surname would no longer be Vermeulen but rather it would be Carriedo instead, she was going to be a bride. 'Even though we've been engaged for at least a year now...' She thought to herself but paused to take a look at herself in the mirror, wondering how the Spaniard could have ever fallen in love with her. 'I still can't believe that I will be a bride!' She mentally squealed to herself and flopped down onto her bed, as it was only four in the morning. But as the time grew closer to the wedding, Clementine couldn't help but even more excited and that resulted in restless nights for the woman. Pulling the pale pink sheets up to her neck, Clementine closed her eyes tightly and could only dream of wait awaited her after the alter. _Ik zie oe geerne Antonio... _

By eight o'clock in the morning, the Belgian was all ready to begin her day once more. Having her fill of waffles and taking quite possibly the hottest shower ever, she couldn't feel much better than the mood she was in. She touched the crimson ribbon tied into her golden hair gingerly, remembering that it had been a present from her Antonio. She then realized that it wouldn't be a perfect day without seeing Antonio, no matter how busy he would be. 'But he's never busy. At least I've never seen him busy.' She murmured to herself as she walked around her cozy home, cleaning up where she had been eating her breakfast at. Being rather hyperactive, she tended to move around whenever she ate, going from the kitchen table to the couch to wherever it suited her and her mood at that moment. Just as she about to finish up the simple chore, she heard the telephone ring, giving her a small surprise, as no one ever called her this early in the morning.

"Coming!" She called to the inanimate telephone that sat on her kitchen counter as she was putting away dirty dish towels. Though she hardly answered any calls if she were completely honest and that wasn't about to change. But after a few moments, they were still calling her even though she had made no move to go answer it. 'Well, they are quite persistent, aren't they?" She smiled to herself and made her way into the kitchen, deciding to take the call because they had insisted on not stopping.

_"Hallo?"_ She spoke into the phone, wondering who could have called her this early in the morning. From the people she knew, only a few woke up as early as she did, and none of them were that close of friends to herself.

"Well, it's about time that you picked up the phone, Clementine!" A familiar voice nearly shouted into the phone, and the tone was obviously very angry and not that calm. It was quite the surprise as the Belgian knew her elder brother to always be in a calm mood, no matter how angry he ever became. Clementine sighed and ran a hand through her blonde hair, not wanting to deal with an angry brother at the moment though she was genuinely curious as to why he was so angry at the moment.

"Why'd did you call me at such a time...? Especially when you are so angry, _broer_."She muttered the last statement to herself and rolled her eyes at her brother, knowing it probably was nothing. Though she could hear him mutter a few curses under his breath, indicating his anger that wasn't originally intended to be directed at her.

"It's important Clementine!"

Clementine shivered at his near yell and hugged herself, not being used to yelling ever. Not even Agustjn yelled at her like that, if he ever did yell at her. But whatever it was that was irritating him, it must have been quite important, obviously from his words and... Her brother was quite a protective yet emotionless elder brother, but Clementine could always tell the tone in his voice, it was one of both anger and concern. Whenever he was concerned, it was to do with the family, which consisted of Agustjn, herself, and their younger brother, Christofeel, though she dearly hoped that nothing terrible had happened to her beloved brothers. Besides for them, the only family she would have would be Antonio, and he was about to become her husband in mere days. "What is the matter, Agustjn?" Her voice was gentle with a tint of concern, reminding herself not to become angry with him if he began his ranting over again. Two angry siblings could simply not communicate with each other, and she knew that from experience, too much experience from that if she had to admit.

'It is about Antonio..." He muttered a curse under his brother after he said the Spaniard's name, with him still continuing to hate from ever since they had met. Clementine's already pale face faded into a chalk colour, knowing that the two of them probably had gotten into a fight again. From the seriousness of his tone, Antonio's injuries could be anywhere from a broken rib to near death, considering that Agustjn was the better fighter of the two of them. Clutching the phone, Clementine was barely able to get the words out of her mouth, worried for her beloved love.

"Is he alright?" She cried out with nervous anticipation, desperately needing the results at the moment. She could quite possibly faint cold at any moment in time if she became too stressed.

"The damn bastard..." Agustjn growled under his breath, nearly losing his control of his anger as he thought of what happened that previous night. He hadn't want to deliver the news to his own sister but he had no choice, lying would be the worst option. Even if he hadn't protected her in the end, he simply couldn't keep something away from Clementine. 'He _ran away... _He left you."

Those were the only words that the blonde woman needed to hear before she dropped the phone to the floor, her bright green eyes widening in shock. A few moments after the phone dropped to the floor, Clementine followed after with her legs buckling underneath her. She had always worn her heart on her sleeve and now it was coming back to hurt her. Especially since one of the ones she trusted most betrayed her, the person she was going to marry _betrayed _her, yet she could not believe it. She could not hear her brother's worried voice coming from the phone over the cold, harsh shock that continued to flood over her. It was only after he had hung up that she was able to breath again and laid herself on the cold floor of the kitchen next to the phone. "No..." Was all that she could whisper to herself before she began to sob into her hands, remaining in a fetal position on the floor. She didn't care that she looked absolutely pathetic, she didn't care if anyone saw, she didn't care if her brother would yell at her. Frankly, nothing else mattered in this moment.

Hours later Clementine was sitting in the rather lofty living room of her friend Elizaveta, one of her closest friends that she had. After she had heard the news, the Hungarian woman had insisted on taking Clementine to her home to care for her in those days after the shock. Betrayal was not an easy thing to get over, especially by the one that she had trusted most. "I know this is very hard for you, Clementine... But I know you'll be able to pick yourself up eventually and bounce back." The brunette muttered softly as she brought the other woman hot tea, and Clementine accepted gratefully. After shedding tears for hours, she had decided that she was done with her crying and there would be no more of it, she vowed. Not that she would feel any better by not crying but rather it made her feel worse if she did cry even more.

"I can't thank you enough for letting me stay here with you and Roderich, Lizzy." She said softly as she stared down into her tea dismally, staring into her depressed reflection. Her brilliant green eyes were dull and rimmed with red, they weren't quite lifeless but they might as well be. Her skin was the colour of sour milk and her golden hair was messy from her not combing it when she had laid down on the floor. "Honestly I don't know what I would do with myself if I didn't have such wonderful friends like yourself and family like Agustjn and Christofeel." She couldn't help but smile at how her friends came to comfort her and how her brothers provided her support, even if it were not in the best ways. Agustjn had said that he would kill the damn Spaniard and although Christofeel was gentle and had not said anything, she could tell that he had been thinking the same.

"No need to thank me!" Elizaveta said to her and immediately brought the Belgian into her arms, hugging her tightly to her chest. "I couldn't just let my best friend suffer all alone, and besides..." She paused for a moment and smiled down sadly at Clementine, letting her go after a few moments. "It wouldn't have helped if you were alone, it would have made things worse. This is the first time saying it, but I am truly thankful that your brother had told me about this. Underneath all that stiffness and coldness, he truly is a good brother and person." Clementine only smiled in agreement and nodded, silently thanking her brother so much as well. Even though he was the one to deliver her the horrid news, she was glad that he didn't keep it away from her.

Smiling bitterly to herself, Clementine looked back to her friend and gave a light sigh. "I suppose I should put all of my little girl dreams on the shelf now, after what has happened." She ran a hand through her hair, not watching Elizaveta's expression turn into a slight frown. She didn't want Clementine to be angry but she supposed that she had the right to be, being ditched right when she was about to be married tot he love of her dreams. Only she knew how much she had loved the Spaniard and now Elizaveta was starting to think that she had loved him too much and that he didn't know what he had. "But maybe he had a reason to leave me..." She muttered and pulled herself off the couch, shrugging off the Hungarian's arms that had been coming around her shoulders, comfort would only upset her right now she had realized. "But then again, he never had a reason for anything."

"As long as you don't make yourself suffer, Clementine. In all of my life I have seen too many girls suffer over a lost love and a broken heart, I don't want you to end up like them." Elizaveta admitted quietly about her fear of what would happen if Clementine let it get to her. Although the Belgian woman was strong-willed and generally well-mannered, even the strongest of women could break down after a broken heart, and she didn't want that happening to her best friend. She was surprised to feel the couch dip next to her, and found that Clementine was sitting next to her once again.

"Even if I am depressed out of my mind, I could never let me be destroyed by my own feelings over a man who abandoned me."


	2. A Quick Recovery

Clementine did not have the heart after all, to cut off her golden tresses as she had told Elizaveta earlier that week. Even though she would forever be reminded of those strong yet gentle hands being entangled in her hair and stroking it, she was far too attached to her hair and so the memories would remain as well. Not that she was a completely vain woman but her hair reminded her of her mother, taking after her in almost every feature except for the eyes. She had received her father's bright green coloured orbs instead of her mother's sparkling sea blue orbs that Agustjn and Christofeel had received. Running a manicured hand through those still long locks, the young woman looked around her and exhaled a gentle sigh, feeling much better than she had before in the week after the surprise from Antonio. The week before, she had gotten rid of her engagement ring and sold it, giving the money to charity all too happily, others' needed that money more than she did by far. But it still felt odd after the week, not feeling the weight of the ring upon her left ring finger. Nevertheless, she was too happy to be without it, and she felt as if the event had freed herself from the bittersweet memories. But her heart would take much longer to heal, once the Belgian woman fell in love with someone, she fell much too hard and this was definitely the case with the Spanish man named that she thought about it, she should have heeded her elder brother's warning to avoid that supposed playboy, thinking that he would break her heart in the end. But Clementine wanted to prove her brother that he was wrong about the other man but as in all other times, Agustjn had been right about his judgements. It did not hurt the less than obvious love between the siblings but she still felt as if she disappointed him and eventually herself even. That she couldn't see that Antonio didn't even love her truly, no matter how genuine he seemed to be.

Sipping at her drink, Clementine stared at the novel that was currently sitting upon her lap and frowned slightly at it, questioning her own tastes. It was a typical, cheap Harlequin romance novel, something that she would never had read in the past, if she were honest with herself. Not that Harlequin was bad, they did have wonderful authors and books to be offered, but she had never been one for romance novels. Oh, she was a romantic alright, but she had never touched a romance novel until after what happened, though she had to admit that they often cheered her up if she were in a horrid mood. She looked back up and glanced around the small cafe, feeling comforted by its friendly presence and familiar surrounding, cozy environment. It was ran by the Zwingli family, who also ran a chain of banks but the cafe was their true pride, and Clementine agreed that it was one of the best. Her friend Basch was the heir to the family and he reminded her of her own elder brother, though Basch hadn't picked up on the bad habits that Agustjn had already. They had also adopted a wonderful young girl that Clementine adored, a girl named Erika, though the two siblings looked as if they could be twins if not for their ages. But she would not question them, they were a wonderful family to be around albeit they could be more than a bit protective of the youngest member. "I should visit Mevr Zwingli soon, I have not seen her nor Basch and Erika for sometime!" Clementine murmured to herself, oblivious to the male figure that was now sitting at the table with herself. It took her a few moments to look up and tilt her head, studying the man for a couple of moments and shaking her head, almost as if she were disapproving of his presence. "It is a surprise to see you here, François Bonnefoi." Her statement was cool and clipped, not wanting to reveal any internal emotions to her former future husband's best friend. Even if he himself did not deserve any hate from her, Clementine could not help but feel contempt at the man who was extremely close to Antonio, as if it had stemmed from petty jealousy.

"I cannot visit a dear _ami_, Clementine?" He questioned the Belgian woman, raising a blonde eyebrow at her chilling greeting of him. Catching a waiter, he ordered some wine for himself and Clementine, knowing that she wouldn't be rude enough to just leave him right there. A quick emotion flashed upon her face and he could not read it, but she did sit down back into the chair that she had been sitting in before he had arrived to the small cafe. It was a very beautiful and local cafe but it was too small for his taste and his taste was quite elegant, nevertheless he must praise the owners of the small restaurant. "But how have you been, I have not seen you for such a long time after all. Quite possibly a month even." Clementine flinched but looked away, hoping to shield the emotions in her eyes away from, refusing to give up any weakness.

"I am doing well, François, and how have you been faring? I have not heard any recent stories about you and Gilbert lately? You finally decided to stop with the old tricks?" She couldn't help but smile, realizing that it would help no one if she acted cool towards the Frenchman. She truly did enjoy his presence and although he had the surface of a complete flirt, he was a completely faithful and loving man. '_Just like Antonio had been or so I had thought….' _But focusing back onto the present, Clementine took a look at the red wine that was sitting in front of her and sipped it slowly, enjoying it's rich smoothness. Although she had never been one for alcohol, at times wine could get to her, and it had been François himself who had introduced her to wine, to the disapproval of her ever overbearing older brother.

"Ah, I've been well myself actually, but you know how it is Clementine… Gilbert and I will never change." He could not help but chuckle and took a sip of his own glass, leaving the Belgian ever grateful that he had mentioned the name that she would despise to hear. Wiping his mouth carefully, he looked back to Clementine though this time a serious expression crossed his features. With a sickening realization, she immediately knew that he was going to speak about Antonio and whatever he was up to at the moment. Before she could get up and make an escape, she felt a warm hand enclose over her own and felt blood reddening her cheeks a deep crimson colour. "I came on Antonio's behalf to apologize to you, Clementine." His voice was quiet and dripped with sympathy, though she could not stand anyone else's sympathy anymore. But she was not about to break into anger and cause a scene that embarrassed not only her but the Frenchman as well, even though she was angry at him at the moment she still cared about his feelings as well.

"The bastard… A coward for not coming to speak to me himself and leaving without a word…" She muttered angrily but was sure that François could not hear her words, not needing two people to be upset. She was both outraged and deeply saddened on the inside and it was taking all her strength to keep those emotions in check. Hopefully Elizaveta would be able to drive her back home, as she was not in the best states to drive herself or even walk anywhere alone, as she had done earlier.

"What was that…?

"Just tell him that I never want to see his face near me nor my family and friends ever again. If he does, then you had better feel sorry for his pathetic ass."

As she found it afterwards, she doubted that she would be contacting François any time soon, even if he were her friend as well. She had left the cafe just right after that, just telling him to put it on the tab that she had paid before he had gotten there, but he did not as she would later find out. She desired to apologize to the poor man for taking her vicious statement out on him, but was afraid that he would keep his distance away from her, seeing the bitterness surface in that encounter. After that ruined day, Clementine vowed that she would not run into any of Antonio's friends, no matter how hard that would be for her. After all, he was friends with practically everyone she knew, and she didn't want to be pounded on with news of her ex-fiancé. She had grown from a sorrowful ditched bride to a woman that was doing her best to move on from the man that she had once loved. Thankfully she was not alone in the process, having Elizaveta with her nearly everyday, from shopping to eating out, and Clementine tended to the home that the other woman shared with her Austrian husband Roderich. Of course she had other friends to go to as well, and she did plan on visiting them eventually. But as she had learned through her text messages with a particular friend, she herself wasn't the most angry about the situation that she was in. It was her Belarusian friend Natalya that threatened to go in full rage and kill him on the spot if she saw him at all. Clementine had convinced the Belarusian woman not to murder him, though had told her husband to keep an eye on her if the Spaniard ever wandered around them. Though he did not look like much, Toris Laurinaitis had much strength in him, considering he dealt with quite possibly the most dangerous one of her friends. Natalya wasn't even, far from it, but she was quite cold to both strangers and people that she despised, but she truly had a good soul indeed.

"But we should go get some waffles as well!" Clementine had whined like the young woman she was to her best friends, Natalya and Elizaveta. They were out shopping for Erika Vogel's birthday party and the Belgian woman had suddenly become hungry at the moment, or it was just that the trio of them were walking by a waffle shop. Natalya and Elizaveta looked to one another, no expressions upon their faces but mischief played in both their eyes, at that moment she knew she was about to be teased by either one of them. "I know I should stop eating waffles so much, I'll gain weight!" She couldn't keep in her laughs as she imagined herself growing to a much larger size than what she was at the moment. But she had eaten all kinds of waffles this far, and she had no weight problems or any problems with her health for matter. "I've eaten plenty before and nothing has affected me… I mean nothing has affected me that badly."

"You will never grow out of your waffle phase will you, Clementine?'

"Well they do say that you are what you eat… So you might turn into a waffle yourself eventually, if you are not careful."

In response to their comments, Clementine made a face at them and turned away from the others in mock anger. A devilish smirk was plastered across her face as she folded her arms across her chest, pretending to be pouting and ignoring whatever the two had to say about her. Natalya and Elizaveta indeed were talking about her, but they were whispering as if they were going to get in trouble for what they were saying.

"I'm just so glad that she has been recovering so well… But then again, she has always been so resilient like that." Natalya only nodded in agreement with her friend's statement, looking at the Belgian who had her face stuffed in the displays of the various kinds of waffles that were offered in the shop. Personally, Natalya had thought that Clementine had been much too soft on the man that betrayed her, but if she was recovering as if nothing happened… Then she was truly happy for her friend, even if she did not show her true emotions upon her seemingly emotionless mask. "We had better get over there before she starts to spend all of her money on waffles instead of presents for Erika." Elizaveta laughed and the two were off to whisk the other one away before their money could be spent on purely waffles.

Natalya and Elizaveta eventually pulled Clementine away from the waffles though allowed her to buy some, so long as she did not complain for the remainder of the shopping trip. Although she was already an adult, Clementine still had quite a few traits that were easily comparable to a child's own traits, but it only seemed to be amusing for most of the time rather than annoying. Eventually the three women agreed to split up and meet at a certain time in order to get some real shopping done, instead of wasting their time on window shopping for items that they could not afford. Clementine knew exactly what she was going to buy for Erika but had not told the other two, wanting to keep it a secret for everyone until the young girl opened it on her birthday. Seeing the two head in other directions, she began her own walk to the store that sat on the other side of the mall, which gave her some exercise for once, besides for her dancing and swimming that she did every other day. The young woman was so concentrated upon her goal of getting that gift for the girl that she hardly paid attention to where she was walking, often bumping into people and getting shoved right back. She murmured apologies right back to them and swore that she would have plenty of bruises by the end of the ordeal. She stopped right in the middle of her tracks to the store looming before herself, a bright grin upon her soft features. "I'm finally here to get the greatest gift for the greatest person." It was the last thing she had said before she felt herself being knocked to the ground by accident.

Just when she was going to pull herself up, Clementine felt a pair of strong hands grab her arms with a familiar gentleness, and was led up slowly to be on her legs. Blushing madly, she looked to see who was treating her in this way and gasped loudly at who had ran into her. A familiar pair of emerald colored orbs that sparkled stared right into her, as if staring into her essence.

"Lo siento."


End file.
